A group of students attend a gathering in support of an Iranian student prisoner in France, Mahdieh Esfandiari, in front of the French embassy in Tehran, Iran, October 21, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab
DUBAI, Oct 22 (Reuters) – Iran welcomed the conditional release of an Iranian student from French prison, the country’s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday, adding Tehran will strive for her full release.
Iran has accused France of arbitrarily detaining Mahdieh Esfandiari, a student living in the French city of Lyon, who was arrested this year over anti-Israel social media posts.
“Iran’s Foreign Ministry welcomes the decision of a French judge to issue a conditional release order for Ms. Esfandiari and will continue its efforts until this Iranian compatriot is fully released and returns to her homeland,” a ministry statement said.
On Tuesday, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted a Foreign Ministry official as saying that Esfandiari was getting ready for a prisoner swap.
No detail was provided in the ministry’s statement regarding two French citizens, Cecile Kohler and her partner Jacques Paris, who have been detained in Iran since 2022 and could be part of an exchange.
They were sentenced to long prison sentences last week on spying charges that Paris called “unfounded“.
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